Mrs Charlotte Selley, Careers Lead at Penrice Academy, attended the Careers Enterprise Joining the Dots Conference in Sheffield and was delighted to be presented with an award for their Working in Collaboration entry.

We're proud to stay in touch with our Former Students and frequently hear of some of the exciting paths their lives have taken.

Read all about everyone's favourite week of the school year - Curriculum Enrichment Week.

The Phoenix Project, which has been going since 2002, is a leading deliverer of community engagement in Cornwall. It utilises the Fire Service to achieve positive goals, working on raising aspirations, improving teamwork and communication and motivating students to achieve their full potential. The first meeting began with an opportunity to discuss hobbies and interests, what they’re good at, things they can work better at and what they plan for the future.

Charlie called it an ‘investment’ for the school and for the students. He said: “This project is 20% care and guidance from us, but 80% effort from the students. What we do is aim to fill their toolbox for the future.”

The week at the fire station saw the students engaging in sessions in health and safety and first aid, learning about the fire service, problem solving in teams and practicing real-life scenarios, in order to develop transferrable skills to take back to school. It ended with a ‘Passing out Parade’, where the students showed family and friends the drills and skills they had learned during the week. Deputy Mayor of St Austell, Brian Palmer, then presented the students with certificates and spoke of how impressed he was, calling it ‘the best example of a drill he has seen yet.’

Charlie said at the parade: “To achieve what they have done in such a short space of time is incredible, they are a credit to the school, their families and themselves.”

Richard Cardigan, Assistant Principal at Penrice, said: “It is been an absolutely outstanding week developing our students with their leadership skills and raising their aspirations. They should be very proud of themselves.”

The project includes further mentoring for the students over the coming weeks, to check on progress and ensure those incredible skills they have developed continue to be used.